Please help!!! I need to find zoos with bats!

M

Mattj44

New Member
Hi everyone, I'm a graduate student at the University of Kansas studying the ways bats move on the ground. I need to find zoos with different species of bats that I can observe. If anyone has any information on zoos with species other than the usual Common Vampire, Indian Fruit Bat, etc. I would greatly appreciate it.

I'm specifically looking for some microbats like Bulldog bats, Spectral bats, and New Zealand Short-tailed bats, but anything you know of would be a big help. I'm looking at zoos in the United States first, but if you know of something outside the US I would appreciate that too. I know there were a few zoos in New Zealand that had New Zealand Short-tailed bats, does anyone know which zoos might still have them?

Thanks in advance for any and all help you can provide!



Matthew F. Jones
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS, USA
 
Auckland Zoo has 6.2 short-tailed bats but I don't think they are currently on display.

If you check ISIS you'll find which bats are where in zoos worldwide (at least for those zoos that submit records and keep them updated). You need to search by species rather than zoo.

Zootierliste covers Europe and you can search by either species or zoo.
 
The nearby Omaha Zoo has a fantastic bat collection with bulldog bats, common vampire bats, and Indian fruit bat, greater leaf-nosed bats, short-tailed fruit bats, Egyptian fruit bat, Ruwenzori long-haired fruit bats, and little golden-mantled fruit bats. Sedgwick county has common vampire as well a Ryukyu flying fox, and Topeka also has Ryukyu. Hope this helps :)

P.S. I'm a big KU fan :D
 
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I know the Northeast is a little far to travel to but: Beardsley Zoo in Connecticut has Common Vampire Bats, Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island has Jamaican Fruit Bats, Capron Park Zoo in Mass. has Indian Flying Fox, Franklin Park Zoo in Mass. has Straw Colored Fruit Bats and Ruwenzori Long Haired Fruit Bats, and Stone Zoo in Mass. has Seba's Short Tailed Leaf Nosed Bats.
 
We have Jamaican fruit bats and Seba's short-tailed bats at Fort Wayne. You might try contacting Lubee Foundation in Florida--not sure what species they have at the moment.
 
Thanks everyone! I'm so happy for all the help!

KCZooFan, I had no idea Omaha had Bulldog bats, that's fantastic! (Also, Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!)

Rookeyper, I've talked to Lubee and I think they'll be a big help, I'll check out Fort Wayne!

Gaur, I'm not really concerned with distance for the right bats. Thanks for the suggestions!

Chlidonias, that's excellent news! Mystacina tuburculata is really important in my studies of terrestrial locomotion.

I want to look at the locomotion of bats of all different sizes and feeding habits, as well as terrestrial ability. I'm lacking right now in large, carnivorous bats like the Spectral bat that are really important in my research, do any of you know if Vampyrum spectrum or Trachops cirrhosis are kept anywhere?

Again, thanks so much for all of your help!

Matthew F. Jones
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS, USA
 
I should point out that the bulldog bats is current as of October 2008.

Also, Vampyrum spectrum or Trachops cirrhosis arent listed anywhere by ISIS sadly.
 
Mattj44 said:
Chlidonias, that's excellent news! Mystacina tuburculata is really important in my studies of terrestrial locomotion.
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I should think Mystacina would be the most important species when studying terrestrial locomotion in bats :)

They have previously been kept at Wellington Zoo and Mt. Bruce as well, so you could contact them for more information.
 
Mattj44 said:
I'm lacking right now in large, carnivorous bats like the Spectral bat that are really important in my research, do any of you know if Vampyrum spectrum or Trachops cirrhosis are kept anywhere?
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several Australian zoos keep ghost bats (Macroderma gigas): eg, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney Wildlife World and Alice Springs.
 
Yes, Mystacina and Desmodus are the only two bats that exhibit a true "walk", so omitting Mystacina would leave a significant hole in my research.

Thanks for the info on the ghost bats! M. gigas behave a lot like Vampyrum, I'll look into that.
 
It might be a bit far, but the Oakland Zoo has a fabulous fruit bat exhibit. They have island/"small" flying foxes (Pteropus hypomelanus) and Malayan/"large" flying foxes (Pteropus vampyrus). Their habitat is massive. They only have males--I don't know if that affects your research. Good luck! :D
 
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